Whole Earth Curriculum WEC

Lesson 03 — Who Controls the Platform? Power Over Users

Learners analyze who controls a digital platform by naming three levers the controller holds — setting the rules, tuning the ranking, and collecting the data — and trace what that power lets them decide about users. They see that control is power, and that ownership shapes who holds it.

D10 P4: Contextual & Ecological Awareness D10.S1 50 minutes Draft

Objectives

Essential question

Who controls a digital platform, and what power does that control give them over users?

platformownerterms of servicemoderationdatapower

Materials

Standard materials

Low-tech / no-cost

Enriched / lab & device

Works in different contexts

A platform controller at a panel holding three levers labeled rules, ranking, and data, with many users below who see only what the levers set, and a speech bubble asking who decides what we see and what happens to our data
A platform controller at a panel holding three levers labeled rules, ranking, and data, with many users below who see only what the levers set, and a speech bubble asking who decides what we see and what happens to our data

Lesson 3 — Who Controls the Platform? Power Over Users

Summary

Learners analyze who controls a digital platform by naming three levers the controller holds — setting the rules, tuning the ranking, and collecting the data — and trace what that power lets them decide about users. They see that control is power, and that ownership shapes who holds it.

Objectives

  • Analyze who controls a digital platform and what power that control gives them over users. (D10.S1.09.02)

Connection

Every shared space has someone who decides its rules — who may enter a market, how a well is shared, what may be said in a meeting hall. A digital platform is a shared space too, but its rules, its ordering, and its records are all set by whoever controls the software. Knowing who that is — and what they can decide without asking you — is knowing where the power sits.

Materials

  • Platform power sheet
  • Platform case cards

Preparation

  • Copy the platform power sheet and the case cards.
  • Retrieval: from Lesson 2, recall the algorithm’s steps (signals → rank → slice). Today we ask who sets those steps — and what else they control.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). The idea to land: whoever controls a platform holds three levers — the rules (terms of service and moderation), the ranking (the algorithm), and the data (what is collected and how it is used) — and those levers add up to power over users: what they see, what they may post, and what is known about them. This is an analysis of how power works, not a verdict that all platforms are bad. The technology lens: control is built into the software and the business model. The egalitarian lens: ask who holds power and who has none — users rarely set the rules they live under. The ethics lens: is power this concentrated fair, and what would make it accountable? The critical-thinking lens: “who controls this?” is a question to ask of every tool, not only screens. Contrast at least one community-run or cooperatively owned platform with a for-profit one so learners see that ownership is a choice, not a law of nature (S-281). Keep the treatment balanced — platforms also give real value (connection, voice, knowledge) — and hold questions open (philosophy §11).

Procedure

  1. Recall (5 min). From Lesson 2: what are the algorithm’s three steps? Today we ask who sets them — and what else they control.
  2. Meet the three levers (10 min). Look at the platform power sheet. Whoever controls a platform holds three levers: rules (what is allowed, who is removed), ranking (what rises, what is buried), and data (what is collected, what it is used for).
  3. Analyze two platforms (15 min). Read the case cards — one global for-profit social network and one community-run or cooperative service. For each, fill the sheet: who holds each lever, and what can they decide without asking users?
  4. Trace the power (12 min). For one platform, write one sentence on each: what the controller can decide about what users see, what users may post, and what is known about users.
  5. Peer-check (5 min). Swap sheets with a partner. Did you both find the same three levers? Where did you differ?
  6. Close (5 min). Control is power, and ownership decides who holds it. Next: what happens when that ranking narrows what any one person sees — the echo chamber.

Differentiation

  • Support: Provide the power sheet pre-filled for one lever and ask learners to fill the other two.
  • Extension: Compare a for-profit platform with a cooperative one and argue how the change of ownership changes who is accountable, naming your reasoning.

Assessment

  • Formative (observation): Can the learner name the three levers and state one power each gives the controller over users?
  • Portfolio artifact: The completed platform power sheet, kept in the portfolio.

Home connection

Ask at home: who owns the apps and platforms our family uses most, and have we ever read their rules? Write down one rule you discover that surprised you.

Resources